Analysis Of Tobias Wolff s Bullet From The Brain

P.O.V. No.27 - BULLET IN THE BRAIN Tobias Wolff s short story, Bullet in the Brain Reprinted by permission of International Creative Management, Inc. Copyright  © 1995 by Tobias Wolff. First appeared in The New Yorker on Sept. 25, 1995. Anders couldn t get to the bank until just before it closed, so of course the line was endless and he got stuck behind two women whose loud, stupid conversation put him in a murderous temper. He was never in the best of tempers anyway, Anders - a book critic known for the weary, elegant savagery with which he dispatched almost everything he reviewed. With the line still doubled around the rope, one of the tellers stuck a POSITION CLOSED sign in her window and walked to the back of the bank,†¦show more content†¦One of you tellers hits the alarm, you re all dead meat. Got it? The tellers nodded. Oh, bravo, Anders said. Dead meat. He turned to the woman in front of him. Great script, eh? The stern, brass-knuckled poetry of the dangerous classes. She looked at him with drowning eyes. The man with the shotgun pushed the guard to his knees. He handed up the shotgun to his partner and yanked the guard s wrists up behind his back and locked them together with a pair of handcuffs. He toppled him onto the floor with a kick between the shoulder blades. Then he took his shotgun back and went over to the security gate at the end of the counter. He was short and heavy and moved with peculiar slowness, even torpor. Buzz him in, his partner said. The man with the shotgun opened the gate and sauntered along the line of tellers, handing each of them a Hefty bag. When he came to the empty position he looked over at the man with the pistol, who said, Whose slot is that? Anders watched the teller. She put her hand to her throat and turned to the man she d been talking to. He nodded. Mine, she said. Then get your ugly ass in gear and fill that bag. There you go, Anders said to the woman in front of him. Justice is done. Hey! Bright boy! Did I tell you talk? No, Anders said. Then shut your trap. Did you hear that? Anders said. Bright boy. Right out of The Killers . Please be